I didn’t know Caroline Flack. I’d never met her and didn’t follow her career, whether on TV or through the many newspapers and magazines that she regularly featured in.

I’m sure I caught her presenting on the odd occasion but I didn’t religiously watch any of the shows she was associated with, such as ITVs spin off shows for I’m a Celebrity, The Xtra Factor and more recently, Love Island. Even her success on the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, which she won in 2014, passed me by.

So, like the majority of people, I can’t genuinely and truthfully comment on her character or the type of person she was. But I have been deeply affected and stunned by her death at the weekend. The fact that she was awaiting trial for allegedly assaulting her boyfriend, Lewis Burton, during an incident at their home in December makes her death by suicide at just 40 years old very disturbing and distressing.

There are many questions around the incident. It must be said that domestic violence is always wrong, regardless of the alleged perpetrator’s gender.

Flack denied the assault charge against her and Burton did not support the prosecution brought by the Crown Prosecution Service. He also disputed the CPS’s version of events. No one, bar Flack and Burton know what led to police being called to their home on the night of December 12 and Flack’s arrest.

The court case next month would have been an opportunity to hear her side of the story but sadly, that won’t happen and questions need to be asked about how the justice system deals with both victims and defendants in domestic cases such as this, where people are vulnerable and in a crisis situation.

It’s understandable that the CPS cannot be seen to drop a case where they believe there’s evidence to prosecute simply because the alleged victim does not want to proceed.

Domestic cases are often deeply complex and it’s known that there situations whereby complainants withdraw allegations because they’re afraid of their alleged abuser and too afraid to go ahead with criminal proceedings because it may put them or members of their family at risk of harm.

The problem with this case is that Flack became fair game for the press and the Internet trolls to demonise and attack before the trial even began. We know she was fragile when being questioned by police and when she appeared in court in December. And yet, the press, aided by others on social media platforms, continued to poke around in this troubled woman’s life, to pile on the mockery, hatred and derision.

This is certainly nothing new. If you think about it, down through the years there have been countless other women who’ve had to put up with the same kind of media scrutiny that Flack endured since December. The relentless, overly intrusive and nasty kind that has no place in a kind, tolerant society. Princess Diana, Paula Yates, Jade Goody, Amy Winehouse, Meghan Markle, the list goes on. We live in a culture that’s misogynistic, that sees women as fair game to critique for their every move or mistake, one that feeds on gossip and tearing people down if it brings more clicks, power and ultimately more money.

The media has a huge part to play in this tragic story but so do the people who support this kind of so-called journalism by buying the newspapers and magazines and reading the endless clickbait stories published online. Those who attack others on social media are not immune either. We all have a duty to behave more responsibly, because it’s people’s feelings and their mental wellbeing that’s being put at risk.

The Leveson inquiry in 2012 found that sections of the press had been “wreaking havoc in the lives of innocent people” for many years. Eight years on it and little has changed. In fact, it’s worse because now we have people using social media platforms to write whatever hatred comes to mind with little consideration for the affect their cruel words have.

I truly believe their hounding of Flack contributed to her distress and now a woman, a daughter, a friend, is dead.

Maybe we need another Leveson inquiry to address the issues in the press.

But maybe the press will never change.

Really, it’s down to us to consider how our words may affect people, to reach out to anyone who’s going through a tough time and to be more open to discussions about suicide.

Anyone can go through a dark period and have destructive thoughts - they don't have to have a mental health diagnosis - but if they can reach out and talk to someone about it, it just might give them another day to live for.